hive, and
even a larger number has sometimes been reared by a single colony. As
the Apiarian will always have many more queens than are wanted, he ought
to select those combs which contain a sealed queen, so as to secure say,
about fifteen combs, each of which has one or more queens. If necessary,
he can cut out some of the cells, and adjust them in the manner
previously described. Each comb containing a sealed queen must be put
with all the bees adhering to it, into an empty hive; and by a divider,
or movable partition, they must be confined to about one quarter of the
hive; water should be given to them, and honey, if none is contained in
the comb. I always prefer to select a comb which contains a large number
of workers almost mature, and some of which are just beginning to hatch,
so that even if a considerable number of the bees should return to the
parent stock, after their liberty is given them, there will still be a
sufficient number hatched, to attend to the young, and especially to
watch over the maturing queens. If the comb contains a large number of
bees just emerging from their cells, I prefer to confine them only one
day, otherwise I keep them shut up until about an hour before sunset of
the third day. The hives containing the small colonies, ought, if they
are not well protected by being made double, to be set where they are
thoroughly sheltered from the intense heat of the sun; and the
ventilators should give them an abundance of air. They should also be
closed in such a manner, as to keep the interior in entire darkness, so
that the bees may not become too uneasy during their confinement. I
accomplish this by shutting up their entrance, and replacing their front
board, just as though I were intending to put them into winter quarters.

These small colonies I shall call _nuclei_, and the system of forming
stocks from them, my nucleus system; and before I describe this system
more particularly, I shall show other ways in which the nuclei can be
formed. If the Apiarian chooses, he can take a frame containing bees
just ready to mature, and eggs and young worms, all of the worker kind,
together with the old bees which cluster on it, and shut them up in the
manner previously described; even if he has no sealed queen to give
them. If all things are favorable, they will set about raising a queen
in a few hours. I once took not more than a tea-cup full of bees and
confined them with a small piece of brood comb in